The present invention relates to providing an apparatus, for example, a computer system that operates on a database representing a multiplicity of postal addresses enabling a user to retrieve a postal address from the database by providing the computer system with input data, for example a postal code (referred to in some countries as a zip-code).
Some systems for performing this task are known in the prior art and facilitate obtaining full postal address details of a given postal address on the basis of partial input data leading to, for example, fewer keystrokes being required to be entered by a keyboard operator to obtain a full postal address. Furthermore, if the database on which the computer system operates is accurate and up to date (for example, if the database is provided by the relevant postal authorities), a postal address can be retrieved that is both accurate and correctly formatted (i.e. a correctly laid out address in accordance with the practice of the postal authorities in the relevant region).
A common situation where such a system is especially useful is when a customer gives details of an address over the telephone. The person receiving such information can readily access the database of addresses and find the correct address on the basis of the information given orally, which being open to possible misinterpretation might otherwise lead to incorrect address details being entered. Such a system is also of benefit when entering address details from hand-written information, which may be incomplete or difficult to read.
One such computer system of the prior art is a computer programmed with the product sold by QAS Limited known as QuickAddress™ PRO V3 (Version 3). The software of that product was written for use with a database of postal addresses in the UK. The search engines and the data structures used were designed around the British format of addresses and, in particular, the postcode system presently adopted in the UK. In the UK a postcode represents, on average, about 15 addresses. Providing the system with a postcode might therefore require the operator only to enter a house number in order to obtain full details of a unique postal address.
In countries other than the UK, postal codes (sometimes referred to as zip-codes) may relate to many more than 15 addresses and may in some countries cover more than one town. The software, in particular the search engines used, and the data-structures used in QuickAddress™ V3, being tailored for use with UK addresses, may not therefore be the most appropriate for use in a computer system for retrieving addresses relating to a country other than the UK.
Another example of the prior art is a computer programmed with the product sold by QAS Limited known as QuickAddress™ PRO World Version (Version 1). The software of that product was written for use with a database of postal addresses of any country (i.e., not limited to the UK). The software used to search for postal addresses makes use of a searching method known as “pattern matching”. Input terms are converted into a series of three letter strings which are compared with a store of all possible three letter strings together with the postal addresses having such three letter strings contained within them. Such a method of searching can be time consuming and may require a significant amount of memory to be available in which to store the data relating to each possible three letter string and the associated postal addresses (or parts thereof) containing such a string.
The present invention therefore seeks to provide an improved method of and apparatus for retrieving data representing a postal address from a database representing a multiplicity of postal addresses. The present invention also seeks to provide a computer program product executable in a processor to perform such an improved method and to a data product operable on by a processor to enable such a method to be performed.